Generalhttps://ncse.com/taxonomy/term/463/all
enSome Years Are Special—2018 Was One of Themhttps://ncse.com/blog/2018/12/some-years-are-special-2018-was-one-them-0018832
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>NCSE’s Executive Director Ann Reid looks back at the organization's accomplishments in 2018, and looks ahead to what’s coming in 2019.</p></div></div></div>Fri, 28 Dec 2018 18:34:35 +0000Ann Reid18832 at https://ncse.comWhat We Know, And Don’t Know, About Science Denial in Americahttps://ncse.com/blog/2018/03/what-we-know-don-t-know-science-denial-america-0018728
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="" src="/files/resize/PFoS-Perceptions-Page-22-400x193.jpg" style="float: right; width: 400px; height: 193px;" width="400" height="193" />It can be tempting to oversimplify the problem of science denial and to vilify the groups we feel are responsible, but as a new report on <a href="https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/publications/researchpapersmonographs/PFoS-Perceptions/PFoS-Perceptions-Science-America.pdf">Perceptions of Science in America</a> from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences reminds us, this stuff is complicated.</p></div></div></div>Wed, 28 Mar 2018 15:10:13 +0000Stephanie Keep18728 at https://ncse.comA Modest New Year’s Resolution: Empathy (and Science Education)https://ncse.com/blog/2018/01/modest-new-years-resolution-0018678
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="The violet filter on the Imaging Science System aboard Voyager 1 and 2" src="/files/resize/images2/speakers/Voyager_-_Filters_-_Violet-300x150.png" style="float: right; width: 300px; height: 150px; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" width="300" height="150" />Many years ago, I said to a colleague, “What a beautiful shirt! Royal blue is a good color on you.” She replied, “What do you mean blue? This shirt is purple!” After some experimenting, we discovered that we consistently differed on the line between blue and purple. In extending our experiments to co-workers, we found that I was the outlier—most people saw blue and purple more like my colleague. It turns out that such differences are real; the proteins that detect light in our eyes can be tuned to slightly different wavelengths, and we can each have slightly different ratios of the three proteins that allow us to distinguish colors. I really do see blue where most people see purple. (Do you? <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/nathanwpyle/can-you-see-the-difference-between-purple-and-blue">Here</a>’s a Buzzfeed quiz.)</p></div></div></div>Fri, 05 Jan 2018 22:00:00 +0000Ann Reid18678 at https://ncse.comKitzmiller and the Liberal Arts, Part 3https://ncse.com/blog/2017/10/kitzmiller-liberal-arts-part-3-0018622
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="Transylvania University logo" src="/files/Transylvania_University_logo.svg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; float: right; width: 300px; height: 120px;" /><em>Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, honored me with an honorary degree at its Academic Convocation on September 15, 2017. </em><i>The following is the third (and final) installment of a lightly edited version of my talk on that occasion. I</i><em>n <a href="https://ncse.com/blog/2017/10/kitzmiller-liberal-arts-part-1-0018620">part 1</a>, after introducing myself and NCSE, I described the issues in </em>Kitzmiller v. Dover<em>, </em><i>and in <a href="https://ncse.com/blog/2017/10/kitzmiller-liberal-arts-part-2-0018621">part 2</a>, I discussed the testimony offered by the expert witnesses for the plaintiffs and Judge John E. Jones III’s decision.</i></p><p> </p></div></div></div>Fri, 06 Oct 2017 15:00:00 +0000Eugenie Scott18622 at https://ncse.comKitzmiller and the Liberal Arts, Part 2https://ncse.com/blog/2017/10/kitzmiller-liberal-arts-part-2-0018621
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="Transylvania University logo" src="/files/Transylvania_University_logo.svg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; float: right; width: 300px; height: 120px;" /><em>Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, honored me with an honorary degree at its Academic Convocation on September 15, 2017. The following is the second installment of a lightly edited version of my talk on that occasion. In <a href="https://ncse.com/blog/2017/10/kitzmiller-liberal-arts-part-1-0018620">part 1</a>, after introducing myself and NCSE, I described the issues in </em>Kitzmiller v. Dover<em>, the 2005 trial over the constitutionality of teaching “intelligent design” in the public schools, presided over by Judge John E. Jones III. </em></p><p> </p></div></div></div>Wed, 04 Oct 2017 16:45:00 +0000Eugenie Scott18621 at https://ncse.comKitzmiller and the Liberal Arts, Part 1https://ncse.com/blog/2017/10/kitzmiller-liberal-arts-part-1-0018620
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="Transylvania University logo" src="/files/Transylvania_University_logo.svg" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; float: right; width: 300px; height: 120px;" /><em>Transylvania University in Lexington</em><em>, </em><em>Kentucky</em><em>, honored me with an honorary degree at its Academic Convocation on September 15, 2017. The following is the first installment of a lightly edited version of my talk on that occasion.</em></p><p> </p></div></div></div>Mon, 02 Oct 2017 17:00:00 +0000Eugenie Scott18620 at https://ncse.comHelp Me Up: More from My Conversation with Ben Santerhttps://ncse.com/blog/2017/04/help-me-up-more-from-my-conversation-with-ben-santer-0018505
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><img alt="" src="/files/resize/RNCSE37-2Cover-300x303.png" style="float: left; width: 300px; height: 303px;" width="300" height="303" />When I interviewed climate scientist Ben Santer in February 2017, so much news of the new administration’s assault on climate science had already been reported that I was feeling all kinds of break-glass desperation. By the end of our talk, I was feeling capable of uncurling from the fetal position.</p></div></div></div>Thu, 06 Apr 2017 18:43:33 +0000Stephanie Keep18505 at https://ncse.comWhat the Election Means for NCSEhttps://ncse.com/blog/2016/11/what-election-means-ncse-0018403
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Dear NCSE members and friends of science,</p>
<p>I’m writing in a profound state of shock, as I’m sure you’ll understand. You are no doubt in the same state. For the National Center for Science Education, of course, the election of someone who thinks climate change is a hoax and whose running mate once denounced evolution from the floor of the House of Representatives, is frightening and deeply depressing. It is more than possible that the sweeping Republican triumph at the national level may embolden local efforts to undermine the teaching of evolution and climate change. These are worrying signs for science education.</p>
</div></div></div>Wed, 09 Nov 2016 23:01:59 +0000Ann Reid18403 at https://ncse.comHappy Birthday to the National Parkshttps://ncse.com/blog/2016/08/happy-birthday-to-national-parks-0018355
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="Happy Birthday to the National Parks! Candle flames added to cacti." src="/files/parkbday.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 399px; margin: 5px;" width="600" height="399" /></p></div></div></div>Thu, 25 Aug 2016 22:50:00 +0000Josh Rosenau18355 at https://ncse.comPinning Down Piltdownhttps://ncse.com/blog/2016/08/pinning-down-piltdown-0018344
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p> </p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/resize/Sign_for_the_Piltdown_Man%2C_Newick_-_geograph.org.uk_-_985265-300x400.jpg" style="margin-right: 5px; padding: 5px; border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; float: left; height: 400px; width: 300px;" title="Pub sign for the old Piltdown Man pub on the A272 in East Sussex. I miss it. (Trish Steel, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons) " width="300" height="400" /></p></div></div></div>Tue, 16 Aug 2016 21:35:31 +0000Stephanie Keep18344 at https://ncse.comWhat We’re Readinghttps://ncse.com/blog/2016/08/what-were-reading-0018330
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="" src="/files/resize/150px-King_Yu_of_Xia-108x247.jpg" style="float: right; width: 108px; height: 247px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;" title="The legendary Emperor Yu: now with evidence." width="108" height="247" />It’s pretty much all evolution, all the time, this week. Pokémon, humans, creationists, even our understanding of the past—everything evolves.</p></div></div></div>Fri, 05 Aug 2016 22:00:00 +0000Ann Reid18330 at https://ncse.comWhat We're Readinghttps://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/what-were-reading-0018303
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="" height="215" src="/files/resize/28183577192_01fd0a02d8_o-325x215.jpg" style="float: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;" title="NCSE in the Grand Canyon: Nerds in Paradise" width="325" />Turtles and lizards and pterosaurs, oh my! And whales. Also, sorry to say, continued sobering reports of trends in and consequences of climate change, but also continued efforts to obfuscate and misrepresent the science.</p></div></div></div>Fri, 15 Jul 2016 23:45:00 +0000Ann Reid18303 at https://ncse.comWhat We’re Readinghttps://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/what-we-re-reading-0018298
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Owing to a technical difficulty, I can't provide any illustration to accompany today’s <em>What We’re Reading</em> feature. But hey, you don’t only read it for the pictures, do you? In any case, please let us know in the comments section below what you think of our reading suggestions—and tell us what you've been reading, too. Have a great weekend!</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 08 Jul 2016 23:00:00 +0000Ann Reid18298 at https://ncse.comWhat We’re Readinghttps://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/what-we-re-reading-0018295
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><img alt="Jan Bogumił Plersch, Fireworks in honor of Catherine II in 1787. Via Wikimedia Commons." src="https://ncse.com/files/320px-Plersch_Night_illumination_of_Kani%C3%B3w.jpg" style="width: 320px; height: 217px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; float: right;" width="320" height="217" /></p>
<p>While a bunch of NCSE staff members are rafting down the majestic Colorado River and another is making his way to Washington DC for the National Education Association’s annual meeting and others are, presumably, moping Cinderella-fashion at home, we offer the following links for you to beguile the long fireworks-filled holiday weekend away.</p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 01 Jul 2016 23:00:00 +0000Ann Reid18295 at https://ncse.comEven the Classics Can Surprise Youhttps://ncse.com/blog/2016/06/even-classics-can-surprise-you-0018270
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>This blog installment focuses on perhaps the most well known example of natural selection in action (and a <a href="https://ncse.com/blog/2014/08/what-s-problem-with-peppered-moths-0015841">topic we have covered in the blog before</a>): The peppered moth (<em>Biston betularia</em>).</p></div></div></div>Thu, 16 Jun 2016 03:04:50 +0000Stephanie Keep18270 at https://ncse.com